VOA文化艺术2022--韩国全面解封,年轻人担心职场聚餐文化回归

Young Koreans Worry about Return of After-work Gatherings²

South Korea's recent decision to ease many of its COVID-19 restrictions³ has some office workers feeling more concerned than happy.

That is because the end of social distancing means a possible return of "hoeshik." Hoeshik are after-work meal gatherings that are considered part of South Korean work culture. Employees do not get paid during hoeshik. The events often end very late at night.

Jang is a 29-year-old office worker. She works and lives in Seoul. She only wanted to be known by her last name so that she could speak freely about her employer. Jang said she thinks that hoeshik is out-of-date. She said such gatherings take up too much of an employee's free time.

"Hoeshik is part of your work life, except it's unpaid⁴. The worst part about the after-work dinners is that you don't know when it'll end," Jang said. "With drinks, it could really continue well into the night until who knows when."

During the pandemic, Jang was able to spend her nights the way she wanted to. She cleaned the house, made herself dinner and exercised.

Even before the pandemic, many young South Koreans did not support hoeshik very much. They also did not necessarily like other work-related events such as company trips and hikes.

The pandemic prevented companies from holding hoeshik events. And it may have permanently⁵ changed hoeshik culture. Almost 80 percent of people questioned for a recent survey by Incruit Corp said their companies' hoeshik culture has changed. Ninety percent of those respondents said they were pleased with the changes.

Suh Yong-gu is a marketing⁶ professor at a Seoul women's university. Suh said, "Now that employees know what it's like to have off-hours kept for themselves, companies won't be able to fully⁷ restore the old after-dinner and weekend gathering¹ culture."

Kim Woon-bong is 30 years old. He started a city government job during the pandemic. He said that he feels lucky that he did not have to take part in the required hoeshik culture because of the social distancing rules.

"I actually liked meal gatherings held during lunch hours, because I knew they would end at 1 p.m.," he said. "I am cautiously hoping the company dinner culture will change now that it has been almost gone for two years."

Suh said that even though younger employees do not enjoy after-work dinners and socializing, many older employees still think that the dinners are necessary to form connections with co-workers.

"It will be yet another conflict between the old and new generation," Suh said.

Some companies are giving employees the choice to work from home or go into the office on some days. SK Telecom is one such company. It is letting employees choose between working from home or working in the office in small, socially distant work areas.

One company official, who did not wish to be named, said there is no set guidance on company dinners. But, the official added, "they will be less frequent when many of our employees are working from home."

Words in This Story

out-of-date – adj. old-fashioned or not relevant to today

hikes – n. a long walk especially for pleasure or exercise

respondents – n. a person who gives an answer to a question, especially as part of a public opinion study

restore – v. to return (something) to an earlier or original condition by repairing it, cleaning it

cautiously– adv. careful about avoiding danger or risk

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

5 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。